Zombie Apocalypse in Bangor Teaches Emergency Crews How to Respond to Disasters

The public puts its trust in medical response teams, assuming that they can handle any kind of emergency, even a zombie apocolpyse.After a drill on Thursday in Bangor, organized by the Northeastern Maine Regional Resource Center, local and state agencies now have a better idea of what to do in that kind of situation. During the drill, participants had to address issues ranging from public safety to vaccine distribution to dealing with the press.”We learn how to come together to set up an incident command structure type of environment between law enforcement, first responders, emergency personnel, and how we can plan for disaster,” said Julie Nason, Emergency Department Nurse Manager at Millinocket Regional Hospital.Because in the event of a real disaster or some kind of pandemic, that’s what these folks would have to do. And it’s not always something they’ve dealt with before.”You don’t necessarily know what’s coming and the information that you get isn’t always the best information and wholesome and thorough information,” said Amanda Stover, who works in disaster preparedness at Waldo County General Hospital.In that sense, this zombie drill wasn’t so far-fetched.”[It’s] not much of a fantasy to be honest with you, diseases are contagious, many diseases spread just within a three foot sneeze,” said Roxanne Landers, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator at Northeast Maine Regional Resource Center.The day-long drill drove home an important message. In the emergency and medical fields, you have to be prepared for anything.